Acta Sanctorum
by Key'n Kira
Summary: Would anything have changed if those two had been present? A combined effort between two authors, Key'n and ade5kira, this fic follows the plot of the anime, with the addition of two OCs, so I guess it counts as slight AU. Pairings are KandaOC and LaviOC.
1. Prologue Part I Ann Savia

**Disclaimer: Do not own D gray-Man. **

**Hi!! This is Key'n, back with KIRA for a joint fanfiction~ Here's a short prologue of my character Ann. More about her past will be revealed in the actual fanfiction. =D**

**For those who were wondering, Acta Sanctorum is Latin for something along the lines of...Deeds of the Saints. ^_^ Which is appropriate, considering exorcists are supposed to be "apostles of god". ;D**

**Also, details and pictures will be released on our joint blog, which can be found at: keynkira . wordpress .com (without the spaces, of course).**

**Enjoy for now!**

**PROLOGUE PART I – ANN SAVIA**

The brunette glanced back apologetically at the kindly elder, who was still smiling at her as she walked away with her new mentor; General Froi Tiedoll was a nice man, one who reminded Ann Savia of her dead father; kind, gentle and at peace with life in general, but much as she wanted to be his apprentice, she couldn't leave this little critter behind….

She glanced up at the monkey sitting on her mentor's shoulder; it was staring at her through its bright, round eyes, scrutinizing her as she trotted behind its mistress. It was the dearest thing she'd ever seen, and despite the fact that Ann never had much luck with animals, she was going to try and win her mentor's pet over.

She hastened her steps in an effort to keep up with the taller woman, and upon hearing the shuffling of footwork, General Klaud Nine stopped in her tracks, and turned to smile and wait for the teenager, who looked ragged and dismal – she had, after all, just saw her own father killed in a battle…

Yet, the sensitive general felt more than pity for this child; Ann's thoughtful and dependable nature was just like her father's, and Klaud was more than just sure that she would be as great a Finder as her father had been.

When Ann caught up, panting slightly, her dirty brown locks windswept and tattered white dress creased, Klaud bent down so that she came face to face with her new apprentice; her pet monkey, Lau Ji Min, slipped off her shoulder and watched curiously as its owner wrapped her arms around the girl.

She had been so strong, so strong… Klaud couldn't even find the right words to comfort the tired girl.

Ann too, said nothing as her mentor held her tightly in her arms, but a lone tear trickled down her blackened cheek as she thought of the home she no longer had.

_Klaud was the only family she had left. _


	2. Prologue Part II Amber Xirtan

**Disclaimer: Do not own D gray-Man.**

**Heyho! This is ade5kira here. I'm gonna be doing a joint Man fanfic with Key'n (laffs, guess where we get our pen-name from).**

**Eh tou…I really haven't been updating my Shaman King fic. *guilty* BUTBUTBUT! I'm currently working on the oh-so-problematic Chapter 7, so I hope it'll be up soon enough. ^_^**

**Meanwhile, updates on this fic should be a lot more consistent, since Key'n will be bugging me week after week, and it's really quite impossible to procrastinate when she's nudging me about it every day. . She's always been my nudger, since way back when I started fanfiction. But that really is unrelated, so let's leave it at that.**

**On with the prologue!**

**PROLOGUE PART II- AMBER XIRTAN**

Wide eyes were peeking out of the gap in the closet door that night, watching the bloodbath that came out of nowhere, and seemed to last an eternity. Eyes that were filled with sheer terror and running with tears as they watched all they had ever known and loved being destroyed right in front of them.

All she could really remember after it had ended was the maniacal laughter from those who had no qualms about killing their own kind.

And that memory haunted her, driving her insane as she stumbled out of the closet, tripping and falling face first into the huge puddle of blood on the floor. To this, however, she showed no disgust whatsoever. Her eyes flickered about as if she felt as though it was strange that she was alive.

And it was. Her parents had sacrificed themselves to save their only child, hiding her in the closet where the murderers would not find her.

She clambered back up, using unsteady arms to push her tiny body off the floor, and stumbled out the front door, not even pausing to wipe the blood from her face. By this point, her eyes were but blank light-blue orbs showing no emotion, not even the fear that had been there minutes ago.

For hours she continued, with no direction whatsoever, simply moving further and further from the horrendous scene. Even after the blood had dried and covered her face in stiff red patches, she continued, not really knowing where she was going, or why she was even moving at all.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, when finally, her tiny body collapsed, unable to handle any more stress. And there she lay, in the middle of nowhere in particular, until she would be found and taken in by a kind passer-by returning from the city.

And when she would finally wake up days later, that night would be naught but a foggy memory, and she would never quite understand why she was so numb to the world.


	3. Ad Limina Apostolorum

**Disclaimer: Do not own D Gray-man.**

**This chapter takes place after the Ghost of Mater arc, when Kanda leaves straight for another mission. (Episode 6-7 for the anime.)**

**A fast update this time, but don't go expecting this every week. It's just that Key'n and I managed to find time to meet up and write out the whole chapter together in one day.**

**Ad Limina Apostolorum- To the Threshold of the Apostles**

Ann bowed her head and gritted her teeth to keep them from chattering as she gripped tightly onto the long fluttering coat that she wore on top of her own uniform. She sorely regretted having agreed to come on this mission with Kanda Yu and the Bookman Junior whose name she still did not know. Not only was she extremely sleep-deprived, she missed Lau Jimin already.

What had she been thinking, she wondered with a slight tinge of worry as the three trudged along the snow-paved cliff, to have actually left her mentor all alone on her journey back to the headquarters? Surely she needn't have come on this mission just because these two needed a capable Finder to help them out? Wasn't General Klaud more important to her than the surly blue-haired swordsman and this hyperactive Bookman apprentice who kept trying to peer under her cowl?

Ann glared at the back of Kanda's slightly bent figure, flinching as the cold wind flung back her cowl and hit her face in full force, but before she could even make to inquire if he was sure this was the right way to the village, Ann realized that he had stopped; they had reached the edge of the snowy cliff.

She hastened her steps and came to a stop next to the tall man, letting her hair whip back in an unruly manner while the Bookman Junior peered curiously over her shoulder.

The village looked calm enough from where they were, with dim lights littered along the empty walkways. Ann's eyes narrowed doubtfully; she couldn't see the possibility of an Innocence hidden in a normal place like this…

Then again, she thought drily as the Bookman Junior exclaimed excitedly into her ear and pointed towards a hut situated near the entrance of the village, an area as peaceful as this was probably the most suspicious…

"Besides, it's not exactly normal to have a queue outside your house at this time of the night…" Ann murmured distractedly as her gaze found the small crowd before the home Bookman Junior was pointing at. Kanda said nothing, but after a moment of scrutiny, he wordlessly began to walk down the rocky path, towards the hut.

"Ah, _Yu_!"

The Bookman Junior called out, but the bad-tempered man only growled warningly back at him and continued to walk further away, until he vanished from their view. Ann frowned after him; having worked with Kanda before, she knew what he was like, but it didn't mean that she liked his attitude.

"Let's go, err…"

Ann interrupted her own sentence abruptly and cursed under her breath; she didn't know his name. She turned around, brows creasing with irritation, but before she could ask, the Bookman Junior grinned at her and said cheerfully,

"I'm Lavi, nice to meet you!"

"Right, Lavi," Ann said wearily, "let's go."

As the two made their way after the grumpy samurai, three black golems followed, flapping their wings frantically. It would not do for the exorcists to lose all method of contact with headquarters.

* * *

Amber's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration when the door suddenly burst open. She looked up slowly, staring silently at the person who had stomped in. A random thought popped into her head, something that didn't happen very often.

"_Pretty…"_

Accompanying the intruder came cries of complaint, shouting at him to get in line. The surly looking intruder simply turned around and glared at the outsiders, and there was silence immediately, followed by a soft click as the door swung shut again.

Amber continued staring at the intruder for a while, before turning back to her work once again. This was actually tough, but there had to be a way to finish it.

The door swung open a second time, and Amber looked up again to see who else had barged in. This time, there were two intruders, a brunette with windswept hair, and a boy with an eye-patch over his right eye.

Again, the people waiting outside in the cold complained, and were met with the glares of the blue-haired intruder and the other girl. Unmoved, Amber returned to her work a second time. She stared at the one-legged man lying before her, and then at his worried family standing around, shaking her head. There was nothing else she could do for this man, apart from relieving his pain temporarily.

The family thanked her silently, and the man was lifted back into his wheelchair before being wheeled out.

The curtains to the back room were pushed aside, and a middle-aged man walked out, looking up at the newcomers and their flying companions in surprise.

"You three look like you're perfectly fine. What in heaven's name are you doing here?"

Kanda didn't look like he was going to reply the man, but Ann didn't feel particularly friendly either. Regardless, she stepped past Kanda, interrupted Lavi, who had opened his mouth, and said, without taking her eyes off the silent girl, "It has got nothing to do with you."

The man's eyes widened in surprise, and looked at the girl questioningly. She simply stared back at him, giving a slight nod. With a sigh, the man turned and walked out the front door to calm the restless crowd.

* * *

After the door clicked shut, Amber turned to the three, obviously tired but not even showing any hint of irritation. She stared at the blue-haired one in particular, as if trying to figure out something.

Without any warning, she stood up and walked to the blue-haired samurai, promptly planting her hands on his chest. Kanda's eyes narrowed and he flung her hand aside with a growl. Amber showed no signs of surprise, simply bringing her hands in front of her face, flexing her fingers experimentally.

Her lips parted as if saying something, after which she turned to the stunned Bookman Junior who was trying to stifle his laughter. Her hands reached for his eye-patch and lifted it up, barely giving Lavi any time to shut his eye. She lifted a finger up and poked his eye curiously. Seemingly satisfied, she let go of the eye-patch, and it snapped back over his eye.

Ann watched the girl, utterly bemused as Lavi let out a yelp of pain and surprise; the girl's expression had not changed one bit despite Kanda's hostility and Lavi's mild protests.

She continued to keep a close eye on her, wondering where the Innocence could be. If she was the one causing the phenomenon when the other Finders had encountered her, then she must be the host of this particular Innocence fragment… Now if she could do something to trigger her abilities…

"Healing, huh…" Ann muttered, remembering the injured man and his family, and the queue of sickly villagers outside. Catching sight of a pair of scissors lying atop a nearby cabinet, she grinned.

Sleep deprivation really did not compliment her personality, Ann thought as she reached out and grabbed the tool. Twirling it around her hand for a moment, her eyes narrowed at the thought of slashing Kanda with it; _no, no,_ not unless she had a death wish...

Which meant…

"Lavi…"

Ann spoke up unexpectedly, and the Bookman Junior blinked, stepping up with a questioning look on his face,

"Forgive me…"

"_Huh?"_

* * *

For a moment Lavi didn't know what Ann was apologizing for, but when the woman turned and made a mad slash at him with the scissors she was holding, her features alive with sudden malice, he instantly regretted approaching her.

Lavi's lower armed burned painfully as the blade scraped against his skin, and red gushed out from the wound almost instantly.

Amber stared unblinkingly at the two, and then glanced at the blue-haired…_man, _as if waiting to see his reaction. All Kanda did, however, was give his signature _che _as he turned away from his two moronic teammates, one howling from the pain, the other waiting expectantly for something to happen.

Expression still unchanging, Amber stepped forward and put her hands on Lavi's wound, ignoring the fact that she was getting blood on her hands.

Ann lowered the hand clutching the bloodstained scissors and watched, her eyes widening with every passing second. A faint glow of light appeared around the girl's hands the moment it made contact with Lavi's wound, but even as the light faded slowly, the deep red gash still remained.

Lavi, however, was wearing the most incredulous expression Ann had ever seen as the girl stepped away, allowing Ann to clamber towards the boy.

"_It didn't heal?" _She mused, her eyes still wide as she dropped the scissors on the table and clutched at Lavi's arm, "Lavi, does it feel any different?"

"It sure does," Lavi replied, staring at the wound with that same dumbfounded expression, "The pain's gone!"

Kanda raised an eyebrow at this, eyelids twitching in disbelief. Was that stupid rabbit-boy lying, or was something that ridiculous actually true? A healer that didn't heal? What next, an Akuma that was actually good?

It would seem that Lavi wasn't lying though, for even when Ann raised her hand and smacked Lavi's injured arm, the excited boy gleefully claimed that he really felt no pain. Before Ann or Kanda could react again, however, screams could be heard from outside, followed by familiar sounding gunshots.

Narrowing his eyes, Kanda charged at the door, kicking it down and emerging into a scene of utter chaos. There were five Akuma raining bullets upon the unarmed crowd, and there were spots where only clothes and a pile of dust hinted that someone had been there.

Lavi followed suit, dashing out the wrecked door with a more serious expression on his face.

Ann unstrapped the Finder's telephone and put it on the floor, then pulled off the coat, revealing a black, knee-length dress with an off-shoulder cape, and a black ring which sat on the middle finger of her right hand. Before she could command the activation of her Innocence, however, she noticed that the girl was no longer wearing the same expression.

* * *

Amber's eyes had widened slightly; the first change in expression she'd had the whole time, when she heard a certain scream. With speed that did not suit the sleepy looking girl, she dashed out, and then came to a screeching halt at the scene that met her eyes.

Her eyes went blank and out-of-focus and she started breathing heavily, as if suddenly remembering something.

Which she was. The events that had taken place nine years ago came rushing back to her, and for a second, Amber felt a flood of emotions overwhelm her, emotions she had not felt since then.

She was brought back to reality when there was the sound of an explosion – Kanda had successfully cut through one of the Akuma. Amber's face contorted into an expression of rage as she glared at the remaining four, one of which was pursuing a group of villagers.

Her rage turned into shock when she suddenly felt something pulling her backward. Amber turned around, confusion mingled with anger, and realized that the brunette had conjured something very surreal…

A green ring was orbiting around Ann as she walked out of the house, to the battlefield, and what looked like a map was hovering in the air, with little labeled dots that pinpointed the exact locations of where Kanda, Lavi and the remaining Akuma were. Her left hand was also held out, and Ann looked smug as she fell into step next to the shorter girl, and said,

"I'm not stupid enough to let someone run out to battle when she can't even use her Innocence properly."

As she spoke, the shield holding Amber back glowed a brilliant green; the bullets shot by an Akuma rebounded back and fell onto the floor. Lavi turned around from where he was to see if anyone was hit, and his jaw dropped at the sight of Ann in the black uniform Exorcists possess.

* * *

In the moment that he was distracted, an Akuma bore down on him from behind, and as Ann released Amber from the shield to protect Lavi instead, Lavi extended Tessei, driving the end of the handle straight into the Akuma's face. The Akuma wore a pained expression, which turned into something far worse almost immediately.

Surprised, Lavi looked at the small girl who had jumped onto the Akuma's back the moment she was free of Ann's barrier, and apparently done something to it. Her face was almost unrecognizable from her earlier indifference, and Lavi couldn't help but gape at the sudden change.

Recovering just before the Akuma could begin shooting, Lavi swung the hammer around, straight into its face, and sent it flying into the distance. Simultaneous explosions could be heard as Kanda eliminated a third Akuma.

"_Nobody told me you were an Exorcist!" _Lavi said to Ann, who had lowered her outstretched arm, looking very angry as Amber landed on the ground nearby.

"Was there a need to?" Ann demanded shortly, "Besides, you never asked."

She turned back to Amber, ignoring the sputtering Lavi, and returned the girl's murderous stare with an equally cold one.

"And you," Ann began, displeasure written all over her face, "letting you out of my protection did not mean that you could – "

More screams drowned out her annoyed comment, and Ann whipped her head around, only to see the remaining villagers being gunned down by the two surviving Akuma. Ann cursed with a hiss, and almost shouted out in exasperation when she saw the young girl dash past her once again.

She removed the shield from Lavi and attempted to place it on Amber, but the orb flickered and dissolved inches before it reached the girl.

"Stupid twenty meter limit," she cursed, clenching her fists, "I'm going to give that girl a earful when this is over!"

Ann glared at where Lavi was still gaping, and snapped, "If you don't keep that girl safe, I'll clobber you!"

Not knowing what else to do, Lavi nodded dumbly and ran toward the two Akuma, using his hammer to send one smashing into the other. The two fell to the ground in a heap., and Kanda jumped into the air, sending his underworld insects toward them.

When the last two Akuma exploded, the rage fled from Amber's eyes, and what was left was a wide-eyed, lost little girl.

For the second time, she had lost all she ever treasured.

* * *

The map projected before her vanished, as did the ring orbiting around her. Ann's deactivation of her Innocence seemed to dissipate some of her anger, and she found herself no longer wishing to strangle that girl to death.

Instead, when she got close enough, Ann bent down, and pulled the girl into a hug, remembering how General Klaud had held her the same way, a long time ago when they first met.

Amber did not cry like Ann had, however. With a sigh, the older woman let go of the motionless girl, and stood up; as she did so, a loud ringing sound was emitted through her golem.

Without needing to be told, Lavi turned and headed promptly back into the only house that hadn't been destroyed by the attack, and came back out a moment later with the heavy telephone on his back. He sat it down before Ann, who quickly connected the golem with the receiver, and answered the call before the ringing ceased.

"This is Ann Savia," she said in a low voice, "We've got the Innocence as well as its host, and will be returning shortly."

There was a short pause as Ann waited for further instructions before hanging up.

"Lavi is to head down to Britain to meet up with Bookman for his next mission," she told them after hanging up, "while Kanda and I are to return to Headquarters with…"

Ann glanced down at the girl now seated by her feet, and sighed.

"We are to return to Headquarters with this _girl_."

**ade5kira: And that's the first chapter over! Man, this has to be the first time I've gone through an entire chapter without my OC saying a single word. :/ But I'm beginning to understand that it's not entirely impossible, and hey, she's random enough with her actions. *laughs***

**Well, until the next chapter! ^_^**

**Key'n: I honestly never knew that Ann had this irrational side to her. She was all calm and nice when I first created her, but when it came to the actual writing… **

**Anyway, just a heads up: Lavi's Innocence is known to most of you as **_**Okuchi Kokuchi **_**(Big Hammer, Small Hammer), but in the character fanbook it read **_**Tessei,**_** so we named it as such. **

**See you all in chapter 2~**


	4. Ad Locum

**Disclaimer: Do not own D gray-Man.**

**ade5kira: Oops, I just realized that I forgot to describe Amber's looks last chapter. :3 Ahaha.**

**By the way, I'm just gonna sign off as Kira from now on, just because I'm sick of Microsoft word upper-casing the A in ade. :D Just for this account, since you guys shouldn't mistake me for someone else by now. O_O**

**Anyway, chapter takes place toward the end of episode 7.**

**Ad Locum- At the Place**

Amber followed the older woman wordlessly, her face once again displaying a total lack of any sort of emotion. Perhaps she was supposed to feel something, do something. But to Amber, the feelings people seemed to show so easily felt so distant, as if out of her reach.

And really, was that a bad thing in any way? Personally, Amber had never found reason to bawl her eyes out like she had seen others do so many times before, when her healing hadn't been able to help. It was stupid, and she didn't understand why anybody would want to subject themselves to that kind of feeling; wet and slobbery. If she wanted to feel like that, she could easily go over to one of the village dogs.

Thinking of the village dogs made her remember her foster father, and she thought she felt a little different, but then again, Amber was never really sure. Two times now, she'd seen someone killed before her eyes, but the torrent of emotions which had earlier surfaced had now retreated back to the far recesses of her mind.

Amber's mind wandered from these thoughts, over to her two new companions. The woman seemed nice, despite her outburst earlier. She reminded Amber of those big sisters in the village, scolding their little siblings, but then making up with them really quickly.

The blue-haired man was more unfamiliar to her. She'd never seen anyone quite like him before, and definitely not a guy quite so…_pretty_. And yet, she'd proved to herself that it was impossible for him to be a girl, seeing how he was so lacking in certain departments. Even Amber herself wasn't quite that flat.

Her thoughts wandered again, to the one who had left them. That orange-haired one called Lavi. That one reminded her of a rabbit, for some reason. She didn't quite understand why, since he was obviously human. Perhaps because he had seemed so perky earlier. But he was nice too. At least he wasn't as fierce as the one called Kanda had been.

Amber wasn't sure what they wanted from her, but she really didn't care. It wasn't like it made any particular difference to how she felt.

* * *

Ann turned back to the girl following her from time to time, still worried despite Amber's impassiveness. That, if anything, only served to add to her concern. The poor girl just seemed so…numb to it all. And to make things worse, she was just so…

"_Bloody quiet"._

Ann muttered the last two words to herself, turning around just in time to see Amber looking at Kanda with that blank expression again. That reminded Ann of what Amber had done earlier, and she chuckled at the thought. Kanda's expression had been almost…indignant.

It was a rare sight to see Kanda caught off guard, and Ann found it somewhat enjoyable. Still, she would have preferred coming straight back to headquarters with Klaud. But if she had…

Ann turned back to the girl, who up to now hadn't said a single word, and sighed.

* * *

"Che. That useless supervisor better get out here soon, or he'll be worse than dead." Kanda's mood seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, probably due to Amber having suddenly tugged his ponytail in the elevator.

Ann had been amused when it'd happened, but now, her face was every bit as irritated as Kanda's. Not only was she sleep-deprived, she had been unable to find Klaud and Lau Jimin, and nobody, not a single soul, had told her where her mentor was. The only reply she had gotten from a loitering Finder was to ask Komui, who was nowhere in sight.

"Welcome back, Kanda-kun, Ann-san~!"

Komui skipped out to three very different faces. Ann cast the man a death glare, silencing him immediately. Kanda simply turned away with a toss of his head, giving an irritated _che_. Amber on the other hand, stared directly at the blue-haired Chinese man, unblinking.

"Where's Marshall Klaud?" Ann demanded, her eyes narrowed threateningly. Komui laughed weakly, then straightened his face as he got down to business.

"Well then, we'll need to run an analysis on the innocence, so we'll have to bring her down to Hevvie. And also, I'll need a report on this mission by tomorrow, since an entire village was wiped out this time…and…err. What _is _her name anyway?"

Ann had to hold back the urge to slam her hands down on the table to get Komui's attention. To think that he had dared to ignore her so blatantly! She tried to rationalize by telling herself that the table was nothing but a pile of dust, knowing their supervisor's negligence. Any attempt to hit it would only result in a cloud of dust flying up into her face. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Ann instead turned her attention to the girl, looking at her expectantly.

Amber simply blinked at the two pairs of eyes staring at her, and an extra one giving her a quick glance out the corner of his eye. She said absolutely nothing, instead looking around the room for something that could help. She spotted an amber stone with strange-looking dragonfly inside, and pointed to that.

"Dragonfly?"

Ann rolled her eyes at Komui's guess. And to think that this man was their boss.

* * *

As they rode the platform down to see Hevlaska, Ann found herself thinking that if Amber didn't show surprise at Hevlaska's form, they would be doomed to stare at Amber's blank expression for the rest of their lives.

Despite having been thrown into a completely different environment out of the blue, Amber had yet to show any bit of alarm. That face was either a mask, or the girl had suffered more trauma than they had thought. Ann heaved a sigh as she turned to the girl, who was staring down at her feet disinterestedly.

And of course, Kanda had considered his mission to be ended, and promptly left her alone with Amber and her crazy supervisor. Although, Ann had to admit, Komui was having one of his more sensible moments, explaining to Amber that her innocence was probably a parasitic type. One had to admire his persistence, even though it must feel that he was talking to a wall.

Ann slipped back into her own thoughts for awhile, remembering what Komui had said when he had finally told her that Klaud had left, and wanted her to stay at headquarters for awhile. She couldn't help but let out a wistful sigh. She could almost swear that Lau Jimin had finally been warming up to her, and now she wouldn't be able to see her mentor and the monkey for god knew how long.

After what seemed like an eternity of hearing Komui banter on, they finally arrived at the basement where Hevlaska dwelled. As expected, Amber's expression didn't shift a bit, despite the appearance of the gigantic white figure in front of her. Still, she did react, holding her hands out over the edge of the platform, as if wanting to touch Hevlaska.

Gently, white tentacles reached out and wrapped themselves around the quiet girl, drawing her closer to Hevlaska. Ann thought she heard a gasp when Hevlaska's tentacles went into the girl's body at various points, feeling around for the location of the innocence.

"Ahh, it's at your heart…"

Komui's eyes widened slightly at this. For the location to be in that particular place…The chances were slim, but Komui made a mental note to keep an eye on her for now.

Hevlaska leaned closer, just as she had with Allen a while back, and pressed her forehead to the girl's. There was a bright glow as Hevlaska began analyzing Amber's synchronization rate with her innocence.

"Three percent…Fourteen percent…Twenty-eight percent…Fifty-five percent…Eighty percent."

Ann's tired eyes widened at this. She'd heard that parasitic-types mostly had a higher synchronization rate with their innocence when compared to equipment-types. It seemed that the information had been accurate. Rumors about a mysterious girl healer had only started two months ago, and even using the innocence every day could only raise synchronization that far.

Ann snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Hevlaska speak again. She found herself wanting to hear what kind of future this passive girl could have ahead of her.

* * *

Allen was walking out of the Library with Lenalee when he noticed a brunette girl walking towards them with a blonde girl following. He turned to Lenalee curiously, since he was still relatively new at the order and hardly recognized anyone there.

"Ahh, Ann-san, welcome back! Is that girl a host?"

Ann nodded in reply to Lenaless's friendly greeting, and said, "She doesn't seem to be able to talk. Her name's Amber, at any rate." As Ann's voice trailed off, she looked toward Allen meaningfully, and understanding the look at once, he quickly introduced himself.

"I'm Allen Walker. It's very nice to meet you."

Ann nodded approvingly at this introduction. At least this guy seemed more amicable than Kanda, she thought, staring at the pentagon above his left eye. It would seem that he had been cursed, though what effects it had, Ann didn't know yet. She raised an eye when Allen held out a hand, and shook it lightly. It was nice to have someone actually show her respect, especially after having to go on a mission with Kanda and Lavi. '_Especially Kanda…' _Ann thought to herself with a wry smile.

* * *

Amber watched as the girl with two ponytails walked towards her with a bright smile, held out a hand and introduced herself as Lenalee. She blinked, then grasped the outstretched hand and shook it.

Almost immediately, her attention was turned to the white-haired boy. He didn't look much older than her, so it was strange that his hair was completely white. Even stranger, Amber thought to herself, was the pentagon mark over his left eye.

And as always, Amber felt the need to examine whatever she found to be strange. Stepping forward, she poked the center of the mark, ignoring the gasp of surprise from Allen. It felt soft, just like normal skin. She furrowed her eyebrows a little as she ran a finger over the lines. If her eyes hadn't let her know there was a mark there, she wouldn't have known any better.

This organization seemed to be filled with out-of-the ordinary members. There was that hyperactive supervisor earlier, the pretty boy, and now this cursed boy? If Amber was able to feel anything, she would probably have regretted her decision to follow Ann here. But at this point, Amber didn't care.

She was pulled back from her mental monologue when the boy smiled at her, introducing himself a second time, again with the handshake that followed.

Amber found herself thinking that she liked that smile. She didn't know why, but it made her tummy feel nice. Without quite realizing what she was doing, Amber took his hand, opened her mouth, and introduced herself.

"Amber Xirtan."

Just two words, but it surprised everybody around her, especially Ann.

"Dammit, I thought you couldn't talk!" Ann swore, giving the girl a fierce look, yet managing to avoid looking angry. Amber lapsed back into her usual silence, simply shrugging at this statement.

Ann swore again, for the umpteenth time that night.

* * *

Amber looked around her room, which was furnished simply. Her light-blue eyes registered no interest, back to their usual blank look. She pushed some of her fringe that had fallen over her eyes back, then grabbed the tail she sported and combed it with her fingers.

Her room looked comfortable enough, Amber concluded, and more spacious than the room she'd had to share with her foster father in the village. Or perhaps it was because she had this room to herself that made it feel more spacious. Amber didn't bother to pursue the thought.

Thinking about her foster father created a spark in her eyes, though it was a tiny, almost unnoticeable one.

_I won't watch someone die in front of me…ever again._

**Kira: Rofl. Amber finally spoke. Ugh. It was tough trying to keep her quiet this chapter. Just felt so weird, like when Komui asked for her name earlier. Lucky Key'n and I came up with what we did. :D**

**Shorter chapter because I feel it flows better. Next chapter should be up in less than a week. Told you my nudger (Key'n) is an awesome slave driver. :X**

**Any guesses as to the pairings by now? Roll up, roll up, make your bets! XD**

**Key'n: The chapter was written by Kira this time~ More focus on Amber and her Innocence; yet, I'm sure by now you all know how Ann is like. xD I hope I get the chance to throw in fluff soon.**

**And in reply to the reviews **_**mikunichann **_**gave us, thank you! I'll do my best to hurry Kira up so that we can get the chapters up faster. xD With regards about the pairings… It'll be revealed soon. Hang around for more~**


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